The best app-controlled vibrators for guaranteed pleasure alone or with a partner

After much trying and testing, buying and buzzing (look, somebody's gotta do it!) we've deduced the best app-controlled vibrators around, whether you use them alone or with a partner. These toys are especially great if a long-distance romance is getting you down, helping to bring you closer on those all-important FaceTime calls, or simply to make your time together more pleasurable.

The app-controlled vibrator category features some of the best sex toys out there, proving just how good investing in one can be. When using with a partner, you can connect hands-free vibrators to their corresponding apps and give your beau access to control them from a distance. While this is also possible with remote controls, using an app means the connection range is unlimited, so you can almost forget about the distance between you.

Online adult stores like Australia's The Hot Spot reported a 230% increase in sales of long-distance relationship (LDR) sex toys during the pandemic, per a press release. Orders for LDR toys "more than doubled over the period from June to September” in 2020, Justin Easty, manager of The Hot Spot, explained. 

To give you a true picture of the tools on the market that are genuinely amazing, we gave ourselves the difficult task of taking these saucy gadgets for an IRL test drive. Our pick for the most orgasmic vibrator is hands down the Lovense Nora. It has all of the features you could possibly ask for, like a multi-speed rotating head and an app that works without a glitch. Here's our writer's detailed breakdown of the very best app-controlled vibrators on the market.

How we tested the best app-controlled vibrators

In our arduous search to find the best app-controlled vibrators, we did the difficult work of testing them all personally (tough job). 

We tried each product twice: once solo, using the app to control the vibrator for ourselves, and once with a partner located several miles away. This meant we could try out not only the vibrators themselves but also different aspects of the apps, such as Bluetooth connection, long-distance connection and video calling. And so, during our tests, we assessed the following factors. 

• Vibrator form
• Vibration strength
• Available vibration patterns
• App connection
• User-friendliness
• Price point

The vibrators we tested were a mix of new products and older, best-selling favorites from brands that are known for their teledildonic prowess. 

The best app-controlled vibrators to make your sex life even more exciting

From our experiences with different types of vibrators, you’re pretty much guaranteed a powerful orgasm every time you use a rabbit-style app-controlled vibrator. Although we have our shortlist of the best rabbit vibrators, the first time we tested the Lovense Nora we climaxed faster than ever before. Once you’ve got the hang of this toy, however, you can stretch out your enjoyment by starting out soft and slow with the lower settings. 

The Nora’s success is down to a combination of its undulating shaft, the multi-speed rotating head on its long arm that brushes against your G-spot as it spins, and the powerful vibrating smaller arm, which sits directly on your clitoris. The latter two features can be controlled separately using buttons on the handle or via the app. 

As for the accompanying app, we found it to be flawless. The connection is strong and the controls are very responsive, so you feel exactly what your partner wants you to feel, when they want you to feel it. Even better is the fact that the Nora can be paired with Lovense’s male masturbator Max 2, so if your partner has a penis you can sync up your toys—when you move yours, the other reacts—for a doubly pleasurable experience. 

If you’re someone who prefers or finds it easier to orgasm through clitoral stimulation, the We-Vibe is an excellent choice of app-controlled vibrator. It’s a large device that looks a bit like a microphone, with a long handle and a sizeable vibrating head. Cycle through the vibration settings (a steady speed and nine patterns) with a button, and increase or reduce the power of each with a useful joystick.  

The Wand also comes with two head attachments—a penis stroker and a spring-like circle for fluttery stimulation—which can be added onto the head and used to add extra sensations. We felt that the wand alone was more effective than using these attachments, however.

One of our favorite things about this vibe is that, rather cleverly, it only vibrates when it’s touching skin, so if you suddenly need it to be silent you just move it away from your body. And in terms of the app, we found We-Connect was easy to use, though the pairing can be slightly temperamental at times.  

The Lovense Lush 2 Love Egg Vibrator is an upgrade of the original Lush, improved based on user feedback. Its bulbous end hits the G-spot perfectly, while its strong vibrations spread across the entire vagina. The flexible antenna sits outside, searching for a Bluetooth connection, but if you’re not using the app it can also be used to control the vibrator both manually (by moving it around or in and out) and with the control button on the tip. The motor, which is located at the larger end of the vibrator, is also impressively powerful for such a small device.

Lush 2’s design, excellent Bluetooth connectivity (a result of the upgrade), a well-functioning app (the same one used with the Nora), and quiet-ish sound make it a great toy for those wanting to try using one of the best app-controlled vibrators in public. The vibrator’s curved shape means that it can stay inside the wearer discreetly, though we did find that the willful antenna can break free from your underwear and start to stick out in a bemusing manner, so be careful with your outfit choice if donning it while out and about.

The only downside is that you don’t get any clitoral stimulation from this toy, unless you take it out and use it externally. If you need dual stimulation to climax then you'll have to touch your clit yourself or use an extra toy—which feels like a “too many cocks," sorry, "cooks” situation. 

Read our full Lovense Lush 2 review for a detailed look at this fan-favorite

Unlike the other products we’ve mentioned so far in this edit, the We-Vibe Chorus (the upgrade of the We-Vibe Sync) is an app-controlled vibrator that’s designed for when you and your partner are in the same room. Of course, thanks to the app, it can still be used for long-distance play and does the job nicely, but its c-shaped design lends itself well to use during penis-in-vagina (PIV) sex.

When using, the thicker arm lays against your clit while the thinner bends round and slips inside your vagina. Both vibrate and have ribbed inner surfaces, while the other side remains smooth for the penis to slide against. This design means there are added sensations for those involved that will bring you to an incredible orgasm, guaranteed to leave your legs shaking after sex.

The vibrator comes with remote control features, which can be used to change the vibrations but are also the middleman in the connection between the vibrator and the We-Connect app. It’s supposed to aid Bluetooth connectivity, which it does to an extent, but we found the external anchor rather unreliable when it came to pairing the devices. The app itself works well. You can slide between pre-created settings just using your thumb, and even create your own to add to the mix.   

Read our full We-Vibe Chorus review for a more in-depth guide to this pleasure-filled toy

Made from extremely smooth silicone, the Esthesia's curved shape allows you to easily hit your G-spot with the longer arm, while the shorter one sits directly on your clit. It's quite a rigid choice, which might not be to everyone’s preferences, but we found it helped with applying just the right amount of pressure on our G-spot to achieve blended orgasms.

There’s no thrusting or spinning head on this device, so you have to (quite literally) take matters into your own hands if you need this kind of stimulation to reach orgasm. The strong, rumbling vibrations that spread through the entire pelvic area were enough for us, however, making for extreme pleasure. Despite these, the vibe is extremely quiet, so you won’t need to be embarrassed by the sound coming from your bedroom—unless you are noisy, of course. 

Vibease Chat (the name of the app that works with the Vibease Esthesia) is quite easy to use, allowing you or your partner to control it simply by running your finger around the screen. Unfortunately, when testing out the app for some long-distance fun, we had trouble with the video chat aspect of the app. Turning to WhatsApp video instead meant that the vibrator frustratingly disconnected after a minute or so. We haven’t heard of anyone else having this problem, though, so it’s likely that it’s not a common issue.  

One of the more unqiue features of the app is that it connects with music and erotic audiobooks, vibrating with the beat and speech patterns—whic is particularly fun when you're playing solo. If this has left you torn between the Lovense Nora vs Vibease Esthesia, we've broken down which app-controlled vibrator is better for you in a dedicated guide. 

Why are the benefits of the best app-controlled vibrators? 

According to Dan Liu, CEO of Lovense, the appetite for app-controlled vibrators has been gradually increasing over the years thanks to the de-stigmatization of sex toys in general. Meanwhile a sharper rise over the past year is down to COVID-19 being one of the biggest collective cock blocks in recent history.

"Lockdown surely accelerated the spread of sex toys and made them more popular among a mainstream audience,” Lui tells My Imperfect Life. "We’ve noticed a growing adoption of smart toys due to the COVID-19 isolations, and we expect that the need for sex tech will continue to grow."